If you happen to live in a community, do not move to another place, for it will harm you greatly. If a bird leaves her eggs, they never hatch. So also the monk and the nun grow cold and dead in faith by going from place to place.

O desolate desert rejoicing in God's familiar presence! What keeps you in the world, brother? You are above and beyond the world. How long is the shade of a house going to conceal you? How long will the grimy prisons of those cities intern you? Believe me, out here, I see more light than you; and how wonderful it is, flinging aside the weight of the body to fly into the pure radiant sky! Are you afraid of poverty? Christ calls the poor blessed. Or does strenuous work frighten you? Without sweat no athlete wins trophies. Worried about lack of food? Faith never feels the pangs of hunger. Do you fear that the bare ground will bruise a body emaciated by fasting? The Lord lies there on the ground beside you. The desert's infinite vastness terrifies you? In the spirit you may stroll in Paradise: as often as you ascend there in contemplation, so often shall you leave the desert!

There were two old men who had lived together for many years, and they never quarreled. Now one of them said: 'Let us try to quarrel just once like other people do. And the other replied: "I don't know how quarrel happens.' Then the first said: 'Look, I put a brick between us, and I say, "This is mine" and you say: "No, it is mine", and after that, a quarrel begins.' So they placed a brick between them, and one of them said: 'This is mine', and the other said: 'No—it is mine.' And he replied: 'Indeed - it is all yours, so take it away with you.' And they went away unable to fight with each other.

The nature of water is yielding, and that of a stone is hard. Yet, if you hang a bottle filled with water above the stone so that the water drips drop by drop, it will wear a hole in the stone. In the same way, the word of God is tender, and our heart is hard. So when people hear the word of God frequently, their hearts are opened to the fear of God.

When someone wishes to render evil for evil, he is able to hurt his brother with a single nod.

About This Web Site

Our website intends to answer the needs of men and women discerning a call from God to a be a Trappist monk or nun. If what you see and read here awakens in you a desire to follow Christ in the silence and solitude of a Trappist monastery, know that this is God working in your heart in response to our prayers. Please contact us and be assured that we are ready to offer you our love and assistance in your discernment process.